Our response to legislation changes in South Australia

As you may be aware, the South Australia Government has made several changes to laws regarding renters, which took effect on 1 July 2024, with a grace period until 2 August 2024. This grace period is crucial as it provides additional time for businesses like yours to adapt to the new regulations without immediate pressure.

At InspectRealEstate, we understand that this might be a stressful situation and we’re committed to assisting you in navigating these changes. Ensuring compliance with the new legislation is our priority, and we are here to help. We have made necessary adjustments to the 2Apply form to align with the updated South Australian legislation, and to allow you to continue to process applications in a practical and efficient way.

Changes now available

We have made changes to the following application questions and documentation requirements. Please note that the following Employment and Vehicle questions and documentation requirements cannot be adjusted:

Employment questions removed:

• Employment start date and end date
• Employment status (i.e. full-time/part-time)
• Employment address
• Employer contact information
• Company Name
• Occupation

Vehicle questions:

• Vehicle registration number will no longer be requested.

Changes to documentation requirements:

No more than two documents can be requested for each of the following categories:

• To verify the applicant’s identity.
• To verify the tenant’s ability to pay rent.
• Their suitability to enter into the residential tenancy agreement.
• Required payslips will be set to two.
• Explanatory text added to bank statement and proof of balance uploads. Text will request that confidential information such as bank account and outgoing transaction details are redacted/hidden.

Application questions:

• Are you bankrupt, a discharged bankrupt, or in the process of declaring bankruptcy?
• Are you in debt to another Lessor or Agent?
• Have you ever had a tenancy terminated before?
• Have you previously been employed?
• If we were to conduct checks through external systems, would you expect there to be any red flags (debt notices etc.)?
• Reason for moving
• Was your rental bond at your last address refunded in full?

Pre-qualification questions on booking forms:

• Reason for moving.

Pet questions:

• Microchip number

Data retention policy

While we have implemented the necessary changes to the 2Apply Application Form, the reforms also require an update to our Data Retention Policy. The changes to this policy are as follows:

Please note that the updated South Australia legislation requires that application data be destroyed as follows:

• 30 days after the tenancy begins for unsuccessful applications, and;
• 3 years after the tenancy ends for successful applications

Since InspectRealEstate cannot rely on the accuracy of lease start and end dates to determine deletion timeframes, an approach will be taken such that data will be deleted as detailed below:

New data retention policies:

• Unsuccessful Applications – All data from unsuccessful applications will be deleted 60 days after submission. This includes all documents uploaded and information provided during the application process.
• Successful Applications – All data from successful applications will be deleted 3 years after submission, covering all documents uploaded and information entered.

An unsuccessful application is defined by an application currently at one of the following external statuses: Received, Processing, Withdrawn and Declined.

A successful application is defined by an application currently at one of the following external statuses: Accepted and Approved. Please note these are by default equivalent to your Waiting Payment and Paid internal statuses.

Please review carefully in your Application Status Messages.

Hard deleting application data:

You can now hard delete applications within 2Apply.

This feature is available due to the possibility that InspectRealEstate might retain data for more than 30 days after the tenancy starts, as per the new legislation. You can now select and delete applications as needed.

Data retention for reporting:

Agents will retain a record of the application submission for reporting purposes, including the applicant’s enquiry information. No other data will be stored following deletion.

Data recovery:

While we currently accomodate requests to recover application data, please note that after implementation, we will no longer facilitate data recovery. We encourage you to download and store any necessary data in another system, as InspectRealEstate will not retain this data.

Please note that any data stored in another system must still comply with the legislated timeframes outlined in the reforms.

Recommended actions for approved applications:

For insurance purposes, we recommend that you save approved applications into your Trust Accounting software to maintain a complete record.

Please note that many of the following settings and questions will be switched ON by default, with some switched OFF by default. It is your responsibility to enter the system and make a decision as to whether you switch on/off these settings or exclude certain reference questions, in line with your own understanding and interpretation of the updated legislation. Please take note of which items are marked as ‘switched ON/OFF by default’.

Income sources questions (switched ON by default):

• Setting to remove income sources.

Demographics (switched OFF by default):

• Setting available to remove Date of Birth question, replacing with ‘Are you under 18 years of age?’
• Setting available to remove Gender question.

Additional questions (switched ON by default):

• Removal of family dependents question, which has been replaced by the question, “How many people will be living at the property?”.

• Standardisation of property reference questions. Please take the time to review these reference questions and adjust as need in alignment with your own interpretation and understanding of the new legislation.

What was available prior to the reforms?

We have already implemented the following changes to our software, which may be relevant to the new legislative changes:

Displaying weekly rent:

• The weekly rent is already displayed in the Property Details section of a 2Apply application form.

Display the required bond amount:

• This setting can be enabled in : Settings > Applications > 2Apply > Required Monies:

Prevent overbidding on advertised rent amount:

• This setting can be enabled in: Settings > Applications > 2Apply > General. In the Lease Details section, tick Prevent Higher Rent Offers checkbox.

Demographics:

• Setting available to remove Date Of Birth question, replacing with ‘Are you under 18 years of age?’
• Setting available to remove Gender question.

Permanently delete:

• Ability to permanently delete applications including all files.

Data retention policy:

• Unsuccessful applications automatically deleted 60 days after the submission date.

Please note: The Data Retention Policy will be reviewed to assess alignment with the new legislation.

2Apply does not contain any questions about:

• A tenant’s medical records.
• A tenant’s level of education.
• Requests for information relating to a tenant on a social media service.

Supporting your business

We recognise the importance of staying compliant and minimising disruptions to your business operations. Our team is dedicated to providing you with the necessary support and resources during this transition period. Should you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at support@help.inspectrealestate.com.au.

Thank you for your continued trust in 2Apply and InspectRealEstate. Together, we can navigate these changes and ensure a smooth adoption of the new legislation in South Australia.